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MOVIE REVIEW
While not exactly a golden rule, it is known fact that if a movie does well in the box office, chances are good that it will be followed by sequel and more often than not, we’ve come to expect that the sequel won’t measure up to the original. Add a third movie to the mix and you’re just asking for trouble. With animated movies, the expectations are often even lower. (Is anyone really surprised that the Ice Age movies keep getting worse?) But sometimes, as is the case with the Disney/Pixar Toy Story movies, we’re pleasantly surprised. Now you can add How to Train Your Dragon to that short list too.

One thing that DreamWorks Animation has understood about this series is that the story comes first, the hijinks come later. The very first Dragon movie proved that way back in 2010 with a strong story and with each chapter that has come after it, that story just keeps getting better. What started out as a cute kid’s story has become a powerful trilogy. We've seen these chara…

Earnest ‘Cold November’ Hunting Movie Just Misses the Mark

MOVIE REVIEW

There is a lot to take in Karl Jacob’s independent film, Cold November. His film is unique in that it combines a young woman’s coming of age story with the sport of deer hunting. The story centers on 12-year-old Florence (played by Bijou Abas) who is excited to experience her first deer hunt, a tradition that has been carried out by the different generations of women before her.

Florence lives in a rural area somewhere in Middle America. The film does a great job of showing what it is like to be a family living in the boonies and not make the family appear to be country hicks with a bunch of teeth missing. They don’t have much, but they aren’t poor either. They have electricity, but apparently they don’t have indoor plumbing for some reason. Florence doesn’t own a cell phone but I doubt that she would get reception even if she did. Nor would she be calling anyone as she doesn’t seem to have any friends. She doesn’t seem to mind. She spends time in the garage with her city she built out of cardboard boxes and Matchbox cars. Then the time has come for her to receive her hunting license and prove to her family that she knows how to shoot a rifle. Top it off with Florence experiencing her first period welcoming her to womanhood. The girl has a lot on her mind.

Florence lives with her mother (Anna Klemp) and Grandma (Mary Kay Fortier-Spalding) who lives nearby, is the family’s hunting expert. The pair teach Florence all they know from gun safety to skinning a deer. They are very thorough. We get to sit with Florence and her mom as they wait for the deer to come out. And wait. And wait.

There is more to Cold November than just the pre-teen’s journey of shooting her first deer. Florence’s aunt and uncle (Heidi Fellner and Jacob) come to visit for the season and are still reeling from the death of their daughter. It is not discussed how or when she died, but it must be fairly recent. Jacob has some clever ideas comparing how killing one’s first deer can draw out all kinds of emotions and there are a couple of tender moments of honest conversation. Unfortunately, it’s not enough. There’s a great story here, but a lot of it is buried. Florence’s father is absent from the story. In fact, he is never mentioned at all. Is he dead? Did her parents get a divorce? Does Florence miss not having a dad? We don’t know.

The film promotes itself to be a dramatic thriller where there is a point when Florence has to “pull herself together and face becoming an adult” when she gets separated from the rest of her family. The problem here is that Jacob doesn’t fill us in on much. Abas is a great little actress who seems believable throughout the film, but the writing doesn’t allow for her to share with us about what she’s thinking when she is alone with her thoughts, which is often. We see her react, but it’s unclear about what she is reacting to. Is she afraid of being alone? She doesn’t appear to be. Suddenly, she gets mad. Why? We don’t know. Later, she panics. Then she composes herself and moves on as if nothing happened. These scenes are disconcerting and we know that because of the tense music. In the end though, there just isn’t much there. Still, Cold November is a fine, but overly long movie that promotes positive perspectives of family life, grief and hunting.

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It’s hard to believe that it’s been five years since everything was awesome, at least in the world of Lego as seen in the original Lego Movie. Since then Lego-themed movies have been released, none of which have been as popular, lucrative or received as much praise from critics as the original.

Now the gang is back in The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part but everything appears to be less awesome as Bricksburg has become Apocalypseburg and is getting worse when this world is threatened by Lego Duplo invaders from outer space. Still, just like is real life, Legos can always rebuild.

It takes a lot of physical and CGI Legos to create a movie. Here is a breakdown on how that looks:

2: The number of characters Chris Pratt, Stephanie Beatriz and Alison Brie play in the film. (Pratt plays Emmet and Rex Dangervest, Beatriz plays General Mayhem and Sweet Mayhem and Brie plays Unikitty and Ultrakitty)

3: The number of times Will Arnett has voiced the role of Batman in a Lego movie.

TVAmerica’s Got Talent: The Champions brought back 50 of the best acts from the different world versions of the show to compete one more time for the chance to win a really impressive (or tall) trophy, $25,000 cash and pretty incredible bragging rights. The two-hour presentation began with an hour full of filler of past acts, silly bits and interviews with the dozen remaining acts hoping to win.

Soon the 12 was whittled down to five including ventriloquist Darci Lynne Farmer, sand artist Kseniya Imonova, card magician Shin Lim, singer Cristina Ramos and comedian Preacher Lawson. And during the show’s last five minutes of the show the winner was revealed.